African child smuggling ring busted

Security Officials in Guinea-Bissau say police in the country have uncovered a child trafficking network which was preparing to send 52 children to Koranic schools in neighbouring Senegal, security officials in the West African country said.

Police found the children, aged between 6 and 11, during a search in the town of Bafata, 150 kilometres east of the capital Bissau, following a tip-off. They were only able to catch one of the organisers as several others fled.

"A network of child traffickers which was preparing to smuggle 52 children to Koranic schools in Senegal was dismantled on Thursday at Bafata," a police official in Bissau said.

Koranic schools, known as Daaras, are common in Senegal, a mostly Muslim former French colony and one of the most stable economies in West Africa. As in most of the region, they practise a peaceful, tolerant form of Sufi Islam.

Many Daaras house children from impoverished families in neighbouring countries such as Guinea-Bissau, who send their offspring away in the hope they will receive a religious education and stand more chance of making money in Senegal.

Some religious leaders, or marabouts, send the children out to beg to fund the Daaras in the belief that it will teach them humility. The children are known in the local Wolof language as talibe, from the Arabic word "talib" meaning religious student.

Experts say the phenomenon is becoming increasingly exploitative and business-oriented.